Status
Because of the nature of the original charter from King Athelstan, the parish of St Buryan was long regarded as a Royal Peculiar thus falling directly under the jurisdiction of the English monarch as a separate 'diocese', rather than the Church. Between 1300 and 1473 arguments raged between The Crown and the Bishops of Exeter over the status of the parish, with no bishop willing to visit the parish as they had no jurisdiction, telling the King that they were afraid to meddle with St Buryan, "for none dares go there for fear of death and mutilation". Arguments came to a head in 1327 when blood was shed in the churchyard, and in 1328 St Buryan was excommunicated by the Bishop and was not reinstated until 1336. Only two of the King's appointed Deans appear to have actually lived in the 'diocese' of St Buryan for more than a few months, and the combination of these factors led to the subsequent ruinous state of the church in 1473. The Deanery was annexed in 1663 to the Bishopric of Exeter after the English Civil War. However, it was again severed during the rule of 'Bishop' Harris, who thus became the first truly independent dean. The current diocese (i.e. in 1831) holds jurisdiction over the parishes of St Buryan, St. Levan, and Sennen.
Crosses in St Buryan parish Langdon (1896) records twelve crosses in the parish of which one is in the churchyard.
Read more about this topic: St Buryan's Church
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